George recalls how revenge felt 16 years ago

Eddie George took a trip down memory lane last night, and the 1995 Heisman Trophy winner felt a few goose bumps along the way.

Tim May, The Columbus Dispatch

Eddie George took a trip down memory lane last night, and the 1995 Heisman Trophy winner felt a few goose bumps along the way.

Ohio State honored the former running back at halftime of its game against Wisconsin for his selection as a member of the 2012 class in the College Football Hall of Fame. He also provided analysis of the game for the Westwood One radio broadcast.

The mental flashback, though, was courtesy of the combination of a crisp autumn night and football in the air.

"It's typical Big Ten weather, and it takes me back to a time when I came here for my recruiting visit (the fall of 1991), and I stood in the middle of the field and said to myself, 'I am going to do great things in this stadium. I can feel it,' " George said. "And I committed to Ohio State right there on the spot.

"Now here it is, 20 some-odd years later, and I'm being honored for going into the College Football Hall of Fame. During that journey, I have had some highs and lows for sure, but nothing I would change at all because it really prepared me for life. … And I just love Ohio State for giving me the opportunity."

His play, especially in 1995, served as some payback, though. On the way to a school-record 1,927 yards and 24 touchdowns that year, he set the school single-game rushing mark with 314 yards against Illinois in Ohio Stadium. The seminal moment of his Heisman campaign, he saw it more as a game of team retribution.

"Because Illinois had the best defense in the Big Ten, with Simeon Rice and Kevin Hardy, and we'd seemed to have trouble with them always here, and they had said in the papers they had 'the lease on this house,' " George said. "And we felt like, 'You know what: We're undefeated; these guys are struggling. That's disrespectful.' So I said, 'We're not going to talk. We're going to talk with our pads.' "

In the closing moments of the Buckeyes' 41-3 win that day, he stood on the OSU bench waving a towel and bellowing, "Whose house is this?"

Last night, for at least another few minutes, it was George's house again.

Captain Herron

The Buckeyes added a fourth captain for the game, running back Daniel Herron. He joined center Michael Brewster, defensive lineman John Simon and linebacker Andrew Sweat for the walk out to the coin toss.

Although Herron missed the first six games of the season because of an NCAA suspension, a team spokesman said coach Luke Fickell has been impressed by the senior's inspirational leadership.

In Herron's first game back, two weeks ago against Illinois, he rushed for 114 yards. He beat that total last night with 160 yards on 33 carries, including a 57-yard dash on OSU's first play of the second half to set up a touchdown.

Wide-open Badger

How did Wisconsin's Jared Abbrederis get so wide open to haul in a 49-yard touchdown pass from Russell Wilson that made the Badgers think they had snatched victory with 1:18 remaining?

"That was a kind of miscommunication. They had two guys going vertical, and someone (underneath) was supposed to hang on one, but it happens," said OSU safety Christian Bryant, who was the man who tried to get over to Abbrederis, to no avail.

Bryant could see Wilson staring at the other receiver from the slot, who ran a post, so Bryant drifted into that coverage area.

"I really didn't see (Abbrederis) until the last second," Bryant said. "I tried my best efforts to get to him, but was a little too late."

Berry in uniform

OSU running back-kickoff returner Jaamal Berry was in uniform but did not play.

Berry, a sophomore, was named in a lawsuit filed in Franklin County Common Pleas court on Thursday alleging he committed assault and ethnic intimidation against a 21-year-old man around 2 a.m. on Oct. 21 near the North Market.

Berry has not been charged with a crime, but a lawyer for the alleged victim filed a civil lawsuit on Thursday seeking $25,000 compensatory and $25,000 punitive damages. No trial date has been set.

tmay@dispatch.com

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